CXIII.

(Athanasian Creed.)

"Seek we some realm where virgin souls may pray In faith untarnished by the sophist's scorn,

And duly raise on each diviner morn The Psalm that gathers in one glorious lay All chants that e'er from heaven to earth found way : Majestic march! as meet to guide and time Man's wandering path in life's ungenial clime, As Aaron's trump for the dread Ark's array. Creed of the saints, and Anthem of the Blest, And calm-breathed warning of the kindliest love That ever heaved a wakeful mother's breast, (True love is bold, aud gravely dares reprove,) Who knows but myriads owe their endless rest To thy recalling, tempted else to rove?

Y.

CXIV.

"And they who grudge the Omnipotent His praise, What wonder if they grudge the dead his hope ? The irreverent restless eye finds room and scope, E'en by the grave, to wrangle, pry, and gaze. Heaven in its mercy hides, but man displays; Heaven throws a gleam, where they would darken

all;

A shade, where they, forgetting worm and pall, Sing triumph;-they excite, but Heaven allays. Alas, for England's mourners, if denied

The soothing tones of Hope, though faint and low,
Or swoln up high, with partial tearless pride!
Better in silence hide their dead, and go,

Than sing a hopeless dirge, or coldly chide
The faith that owns release from earthly woe.

Y.

CXV.

(Length of the Prayers.)

"But Faith is cold, and wilful men are strong,
And the blithe world, with bells and harness proud,
Rides tinkling by, so musical and loud,

It drowns the Eternal Word, the Angelic Song;
And one by one the weary listless throng

Steals out of Church, and leaves the Choir unseen
Of winged Guards to weep, where prayer had been,
That souls immortal find that hour too long.
Most fatal token of a falling age!

Wit ever busy, Learning ever new,

Unsleeping Fancy, Eloquence untired ;—
Prayer only dull! The Saints' and Martyrs' page
A tedious scroll; the scorned and faithful few
Left to bewail such beauty undesired."

Y.

CXVI.

Sons of our Mother! such the indignant strain
Might haply strike, this hour, a pastor's ear,
Purged to discern, for once, the aerial train

Of heavenly Centinels yet lingering here; And what if, blending with the chant austere, A soft inviting note attune the close?

"We go ;-but faithful hearts will find us near, Who cling beside their Mother in her woes, Who love the Rites that erst their fathers loved, Nor tire of David's Hymn, and JESUS' Prayer :Their quiet Altars, wheresoe'er removed, Shall clear with incense sweet the unholy air; In persecution safe, in scorn approved, Angels, and He who rules them, will be there."

CAPTIVITY.

CXVII.

་་

'Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

THERE is one only Bond in the wide earth
Of lawful use to join the earth in one;
But in these weary times, the restless run
E'en to its distant verge, and so give birth
To other friendships, and joint-works to bind
Their hearts to the unclean whom there they find.

And so is cast upon the face of things

A many webs to fetter down the Truth;

While the vexed Church, which gave in her fair youth

Prime pattern of the might which order brings,

But dimly signals to her distant seed,

There strongest found, where darkest in her creed.